Tuesday, May 19, 2009

Needle in a Haystack

You ever get that feeling like you're searching for a needle in a haystack? No matter what you will never find what you're looking for? Sometimes I feel like that. I'm scrambling around just trying to figure out where my life is heading or where I am supposed to be or what I'm supposed to be doing. Everything happens for a reason. I know that. God puts you where you are supposed to be at that time. With everything I've gone through, I've always landed on my feet.

I've always been a religious person. Been going to church my entire life. Your life is mapped out when you're a kid. You go to school. You participate in extracurricular activities. You go to church. Your parents pretty much take control and lead you through life, pretty much until you graduate from high school. Granted when you're in high school you get some freedom. You get to date, you can have summer jobs or jobs in general, you get to go out with your friends. But there's also a certain aspect of expectation placed on you to live up to your parents standards. You still follow their rules and have to listen to them or you won't be dating or going out with friends. Every teenager wants that freedom. They want to get away from that "expectation" and the "control" that parents have. I was never that type of kid. Rarely went out late at night, rarely dated (if you went to my school you'd know why!). I was a homebody. I liked being surrounded by my family and liked going out with my parents when they went shopping or out to dinner. Both my sisters didn't want to be seen with my parents when they got older, different personalities I guess.

But then you graduate high school, now what? Now your parents have let the reigns go. Now YOU decide what you want to do. I know I still felt pressure from my parents to continue schooling and go to college. I don't think I HAD to by any means. My parents would have supported my decision to not go to college, but they knew I could do more. My grades would only get me into a community college, but there I blossomed and after 2 years got accepted as a transfer at my original first choice college, which, for me, was a huge accomplishment. In my opinion, a female in the working field today, needs to have that bachelor's degree to compete with any men going for a certain position. It shows what you've accomplished and that you're a hard worker and able to compete in today's workforce. Then you graduate college...now what? There's no roadmap layed out like when you were a child. Now you're on your own. Parents will guide you and offer input if you ask, but essentially you're an adult. It's time to make decisions.

Getting my first full-time job was a huge accomplishment for me. Working there for a year gave me some graet experience. The day I was laid off I felt like my world was crumbling around me. But as I mention, everything happens for a reason. The shortest unemployment in history ended the same day it happened as I received a "part-time with benefits" job. That would at least keep me working until I found another job. When I thought everything around me was crumbling, it was God holding my hand, leading me to the next place I was supposed to be.

Most recently it was God standing by me as I first received the job at the Girl Scouts and a few weeks ago when I re-interviewed and received my first choice job in the new Girl Scout council.

Yeah, everything happens for a reason, now looking forward, I'm very excited about what the future will bring in both my working career and my life. Sometimes it's hard searching for that needle in a haystack, but in the end, the journey is well worth it.

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